Maggie Sullivan can't wait to get out of Texas. Luckily, she just got the break she needed to make her big-city dreams a reality. But then Brawley Odell swaggers back into Maverick Junction, looking hotter than ever in his dusty cowboy boots and well-worn jeans. He's the guy she still dreams of at night. The guy who broke her heart when he left her behind.

Fed up with city life, Brawley jumps at the chance to return home and take over the local vet's practice—and get back to the smart, sassy woman he's never been able forget. He couldn't be prouder of Maggie's new wedding-dress business... until he realizes it may mean losing her all over again. Determined to win her back, Brawley must find a way to convince Maggie that their one true home is with each other.

Lynnette Austin loves Starbucks, peppermint patties, and long rides with the top down and the music cranked up! One of the great things about writing is that daydreaming is not only permissible but encouraged. She grew up in Pennsylvania, moved to New York, then to Wyoming, and presently divides her time between Florida's beaches and Georgia's mountains. She's been a finalist in RWA's Golden Heart Contest, PASIC's Book of Your Heart Contest, and Georgia Romance Writers' Maggie Contest. Having grown up in a small town, that's where her heart takes her-to those quirky small towns where everybody knows everybody...and all their business, for better or worse.

“But I always knew you’d be here. That I could get my Maggie fix whenever I needed it with a couple hours’ drive.”

“Brawley—”

“I know.” He held up a hand. “Not fair. I won’t ask you to stay. I know better than that. This is something you have to do.”

“It is.”

“Once you’re in New York, though, if you don’t like it, I’ll be here.”

“That’s not going to happen.”

“Red, if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s never say never.”

“Fine.” Her heart hammered in her chest. She moved to the leather love seat, her hand stroking it. “This is yummy.”

“So are you.” The thought tumbled out before he could stop it.

She turned, so close he could feel her breath on his face.

He hadn’t meant for it to happen. He hadn’t brought her here to make a move. But damn if he could keep his hands, his mouth, off her.

He’d watched her all day, that gorgeous red hair done up in a tumbled mass, curls escaping and trailing down her neck. He’d itched to pull out whatever pins held it and spill the fiery strands around her. Wanted to run his hands through it, feel the silky softness.

More, he wanted to unzip that swath of silk and let it slide to the floor. Wanted to touch the creamy white skin beneath. Needed to taste her. Her lips, the back of her knees, her stomach.

Needed to know if she still wore the little silver ring through her belly button.

Needed almost more than his next breath to hear her quiet little sighs, her cries of delight as they made love.

His gaze drifted to her red, red lips when her tongue peeked out between them.

“Maggie—”

“Brawley?”

“Yeah?” He raised his eyes back to hers. They always reminded him of a Texas meadow right after a spring rainstorm. What man could resist? Sure as hell not him. He caved. Pulled her to him. Felt her heat.

The first kiss was tentative. After that initial foray, though, he lost sight of his good intentions, of right and wrong.

Soft. So very soft.

His hand moved to the back of her neck, drawing her closer still. Inching into that silken mass of hair, he removed the pins one at a time, sighed when the strands spilled loose over his fingers, his hand, his arm.

His mouth left hers, traced a path along her chin, over her cheek. He buried his face in her hair and breathed deeply. God, she smelled good.

Maggie gave him those little sighs, those moans he’d been craving.

His lips trailed back to hers. When they parted, he slid his tongue inside to dance with hers. He backed her up till she was against the sofa.

Sliding a hand beneath her knees, he scooped her up and laid her on the soft leather, then followed her down. His hands ran the length of her, his fingers trailing beneath the hem of her dress.

He felt her cool hands on his heated flesh. Somehow she had his shirt out of his pants and half unbuttoned. Her head lowered, and she trailed a line of kisses across his bare chest. She stopped at the small scar just above his navel, flicked her tongue over it.

Brawley sucked in his breath. Maggie had been the one to mark him there with a stick when they’d been eight-year old pirates fighting it out with pretend swords. He put a finger beneath her chin and raised her head to taste her lips again.

She had matured, ripened. Was everything the eighteen-year- old Maggie had been and more. Much more.

Mia Gibbs spent her marriage putting her husband's needs before her own. And now, after a painful divorce, she's building a new life for herself and her two daughters back home at Firefly Lake. The last thing she needs is a man to complicate things. But former bad boy turned friend Nick McGuire—and the one kiss they've shared-has turned everything upside down . . .

Attorney Nick McGuire wasn't meant to be a family man. His career has always been his focus and after taking time out to help his mother, he's ready to get back to the city . . . until Mia and her daughters arrive at Firefly Lake. Mia is beautiful and intriguing, and it doesn't take long to realize being "just friends" will never be enough. As the summer nights turn colder, Nick will have to choose between the life he's always wanted . . . and the woman he can't live without.

Jen Gilroy grew up under the big sky of western Canada. After many years in England, she now lives in a small town in eastern Ontario where her Irish ancestors settled in the nineteenth century. She's worked in higher education and international marketing but, after spending too much time in airports and away from her family, traded the 9-5 to write contemporary romance to bring readers' hearts home.

A small-town girl at heart, Jen likes ice cream, diners, vintage style and all things country. Her husband, Tech Guy, is her real-life romance hero, and her daughter, English Rose, teaches her to cherish the blessings in the everyday.

She jumped and then blinked as the overhead lights went on. “It was nice.”

“Nice?” He raised one dark eyebrow and grinned. “It was a murder mystery where the villain killed his so-called friends with poisoned martini olives. Nice isn’t the first word that comes to my mind.”

“I meant it had a good plot. I didn’t guess who did it until the end.” Probably because she hadn’t paid attention.

“I knew it was the town clerk all along.”

“The town clerk? I thought it was the caterer.”

“When he isn’t on the boards, the actor who played the caterer is the town clerk over in Kincaid.” Nick chuckled. “He’s always cast as the villain in local theater productions. Cat says it’s because he has evil eyes. He grew up in Firefly Lake, and every Halloween when we were kids, he dressed as a monster and scared her half to death.”

“I’m a city girl, remember?” Easy banter, keep it light and pretend everything was like it had always been between them. “I’m still not used to the kind of community here and how everyone seems to be connected to everyone else.”

“There’s a lot that goes along with that community.” Nick got to his feet and shepherded Mia through the crowd to the exit. His big frame sheltered her and made her feel safe and protected. “People know your business and think they have a right to talk about you because their grandmother’s second cousin was related to your great-aunt by marriage three times removed. They post pictures of you on Facebook.”

Mia’s face heated. A copy of that Facebook picture had appeared on Gabrielle’s kitchen table. She should have gotten rid of it but instead, Mia had taken it upstairs and tucked it into the bottom of her suitcase. Then ignored Gabrielle’s pointed looks.

“Do you want to get ice cream? Simard’s Creamery has a stand across the street from where we had dinner.”

The intimate bistro with tables for two, where the muted candlelight had softened the planes of Nick’s face, and they’d bumped knees under the small table to send jolts of awareness through her.

“You like your tiger tail ice cream, don’t you?” Although Nick’s voice held a teasing note, something hot and elemental sparked in his eyes. Then his expression changed again, and he was the Nick who’d helped her with her mom’s foundation on all those late-night phone calls last winter. The friend she called when she wanted to talk about anything and everything.

Mia stopped in the middle of the rutted track in the field where they’d left the car. The long grass tickled her bare legs below her sundress, and she shivered in the cool night air. They’d go for ice cream and then Nick would take her home. They’d drive the familiar highway back to Firefly Lake and talk about the play and how well Charlie and Lexie were doing. Safe, easy topics.

He’d drop her off at Harbor House, and she’d go upstairs and get into Georgia’s single bed beneath the tattered travel posters. Alone. Like all those other nights she’d spent alone, denying what she wanted and making excuses.

“I changed my mind. I don’t want ice cream.” Her voice shook.

“Mia, I—” He made a choked sound.

“I thought about what you said.” If she didn’t go for this, she’d always regret it and wonder about what might have been. And maybe a fling with Nick was exactly what she needed to put the last ghosts of her marriage behind her. “You’re right. We’re both single and neither of us wants something the other one can’t give.”

“Are you sure?”

She tried to laugh. “We’d have to be discreet.”

“Of course.” The raw desire on his face was replaced by a glimpse of what might have been vulnerability.

“I like you, and I know you won’t hurt me.” Because she’d locked the part of her that could be hurt deep inside. “We both have needs.” She kicked the grass with her sandals and rubbed her bottom lip.

“I like you, too. What Jay did was wrong, and I want to make sure you understand I’d never do anything like that.” A pulse fluttered in Nick’s throat. “We might not have a relationship, but I wouldn’t sleep with anybody else if I slept with you.”

Mia looked at the night sky, where stars twinkled above the forested hills. When she was little, she’d wished on stars and believed in a happy-ever-after. But she was an adult, and life had made her wiser and destroyed her childish belief in magic and wishes. “Where do we go from here?”

“I’ll take you back to Mom’s if you want me to.” Nick’s arm brushed the curve of her shoulder through her light sweater, and the tremble inside her kicked up. “If you’re not ready.”

She was ready all right and had been even before he kissed her the first time. “I want this.” She lifted her face to his as a cloud scudded across the moon. “I want you.”

07/13/2017

From #1 New York Times bestselling author Jodi Ellen Malpas comes a new novella in the This Man series. You don't need to read the series to enjoy this story, but if you're already a Jesse Ward fan, just wait till you see the advice he gives Drew about falling in love.

I thought I had control. I was so, so wrong...

I don't need a relationship. I have Hux, a decadent club where I quench whatever raw desire I choose. I take pleasure and I give it - no strings attached. So when Raya Rivers comes in asking for someone cold, emotionless, and filthy... well, no man ever takes his wicked pleasure quite the way I do.

Only Raya is different. Vulnerable. And carrying some deep sorrow that gets past all my carefully constructed walls and inexplicably makes me care. Now craving controls me. Ice has given way to red-hot need.

But Raya has no idea about my other life - my real life. That I'm daddy to an adorable little girl. My two worlds are about to collide with the force of a supernova. Once Raya knows the truth, will she be able to accept all I am?

Jodi Ellen Malpas was born and raised in the Midlands’ town of Northampton, England, where she lives with her two boys. Working for her father’s construction business full-time, she tried to ignore the lingering idea of writing until it became impossible. She wrote in secret for a long time before finally finding the courage to unleash her creative streak, and in October 2012 she released This Man. She took a chance on a story with some intense characters and sparked incredible reactions from women all over the world. Writing powerful love stories and creating addictive characters have become her passion, a passion she now shares with her devoted readers.

Enter to win 1 of 15 free ebook downloads of All I Am: Drew’s Story (A This Man Novella)! http://bit.ly/2nTm0x9

ALL I AM: DREW’S STORY (A THIS MAN NOVELLA)

Blog Excerpt

‘What do you want, Raya?’

She steps toward me tentatively, as if she’s questioning what she’s doing. And when she reaches me, her chest pressed to mine, she gazes up at me. ‘I don’t know.’ Her eyes are wild and unsure. ‘But I know that every time we’re close, something powerful takes over. And you’re trying hard to fight it. You’re warm and cold. What are you scared of?’

‘You.’ My mouth is on her before I can think better of it, and I’ve lifted her from her feet before my tongue breaches the seam on her lips. We should talk, but this is the only thing I know what to say right now, and when her arms circle my shoulders, her mouth opening up, inviting me in, I know she’s okay with it. I know she gets it.

With one arm around her waist holding her to me and one secured on the nape of her neck, I walk to my office, my kiss deep, my blood racing, my heart bouncing off my ribcage. I set her on her feet and take the hem of her dress, pulling it up over her head, losing her lips for just a second in the process. She wrenches my shirt open, scattering buttons in the process, her hands immediately finding my skin beneath. My forward steps encourages her backwards, our kiss deepening as she unfastens my trousers and I push her knickers down her thighs.

We’re all over the place, desperation getting the better of us, a mess of tongues, hands and bodies. I pull some strength from nowhere, seize her hands and break our kiss, breathing heavily. Her unsure brown eyes soon prompts me to start ridding myself of the rest of my clothes, all under her watchful gaze. Until I’m naked.

A sizzling new series about three friends looking for love-and the sexy SEALs who are ready to fulfill their craziest fantasies.

He's a man on a mission.

Navy SEAL Trent Lawson isn't a man to back down from a challenge. Ever since he opened his eyes in that army hospital to learn the men from his unit were gone, Trent has been determined to live life in their honor. Even if that means facing his most terrifying mission yet…dating.

She's done playing games.

Lauren Hayes has standards. In fact, she's got an entire list of them. There's only ever been one man to come close to making the cut-Trent Lawson. Except her best friend's too-sexy-for-his-own-good brother is strictly off-limits.

When Trent and Lauren find themselves matched up by a dating service, the chemistry between them is nothing short of explosive. They both know getting involved is a huge mistake, but life is too short to walk away from something this good.

J.M. Stewart is a coffee and chocolate addict who lives in the Pacific Northwest with her husband, two sons and two very spoiled dogs. She's a hopeless romantic who believes everybody should have their happily ever after and has been devouring romance novels for as long as she can remember. Writing them has become her obsession.

“Then be my first.” Lauren drew a deep breath and pressed herself into his arms, sliding her hands up his back. “It’s not like I’m asking you to do me right here and now. It can happen at whatever pace you need it to.”

He cupped her chin in his palm, brow furrowed, gaze intense. “You’re okay with that?”

She lifted onto her toes, trying to close the space between them. “I’m okay with that. If it makes you feel better to put a label on this, consider us friends with benefits. When it stops being mutually satisfying, it ends.”

She’d just have to be sure to keep her head in the right place, so that her heart didn’t get broken in the end. This was a fling with a sexy guy, no more, no less.

He let out an agonized groan and brushed his mouth over hers, so lightly she shivered. “God, I can’t resist you anymore. I have a few requests.”

Her heart hammered in giddy anticipation. She hadn’t expected him to accept. That he had sent myriad thoughts flying through her mind, all of which settled low in her belly. “Okay.”

He pulled back. For a moment his gaze dropped as his fingers idly stroked her shoulder, like he couldn’t help but touch her. “You can’t tell Mandy.”

Lauren rolled her eyes. “Trent, she’s my best friend.”

“Yeah, but she’s my sister. The last thing I need is her privy to the intimate details of my prowess in the bedroom.” He brushed his nose against hers, amusement glinting in his eyes. “I recall overhearing a conversation about size once.”

Heat rushed into her face, but Lauren couldn’t contain her grin. She recalled that exact conversation. They hadn’t discussed him, exactly, but she remembered distinctly wondering.

“All right. On this I’ll concede, because you have a point.” She rubbed a circle over his chest. “What else?”

“I want to put a time limit on this. A month. When it’s over, we go back to being just friends.” His hands looped around her waist, pulling her flush against him. Heat flared in his eyes. “I also think we should ease into this. So my last request is no sex.”

Lauren dropped her forehead to his shoulder with an exasperated sigh. “I’m never going to lose my virginity that way.”

He chuckled and hooked two fingers beneath her chin, tilting her gaze back to his. His eyes blazed at her. “At least not right away. I’m proposing we do everything else first. Because I was thinking…you want the full experience, right?”

She shrugged. He had her there. “I guess.”

“And that includes things like kissing. Touching.” He leaned down, his voice lowering to a husky rumble against her mouth. “Tasting.”

A hot little shudder moved through her as her mind filled with the possibilities: his rough hands closing around her breasts, fingers sliding into her panties, stroking her sex.

His warm mouth buried between her thighs.

“I like that idea. Doing it all. How ’bout, since you stayed last night, instead of lunch today, we start with dinner tomorrow night?” She pinned him with a direct stare and arched a brow, attempting to look fierce, but one corner of her mouth twitched, betraying her. “You still owe me a date.”